Chinese robotics companies are getting their act together lately in the development of advanced humanoids and AI-powered robots that have practical utility. These eerily intelligent bots seem lifelike and are a glimpse of what the future holds for us humans. That said, the current generation of humanoids requires a lot of technical development and self-learning algorithms to make them fit into our demanding lifestyles.
The FlashBot Arm by Chinese company Pudu Robotics is a semi-humanoid AI service robot that’s tailored for commercial use. The bipedal robot, which seems to be the improved version of the company’s FlashBot Max wheeled bot, specializes in autonomous deliveries. The new robot gets a pair of arms and a 10.1-inch touchscreen for an interactive experience for the users. It comes with a sizeable compartment right where the belly is, to securely carry packages en route their destination.
Designer: Pudu Robotics
The intelligent robot makes good use of the dual 7-degree-of-freedom arms that have an operational radius of 6.6 feet. For precise tasks, the three-point jointed arms come with the company’s PUDU DH11 hands that have 11 degrees of freedom for more precise tasks like picking up objects, pressing buttons, or making hand gestures. This allows FlashBot Arm to be quite dexterous for any demanding jobs in complex commercial environments like offices, hotels, restaurants, or healthcare facilities.
According to Pudu Robotics, the robot “marks a major milestone for Pudu Robotics, accelerating the commercialization of humanoid embodied AI service robots.” They further add that these dexterous arms and integrated intelligence hardware and software, give the friendly humanoid enhanced product functionalities and the ability to demonstrate “remarkable versatility in various applications.” The real-time AI-learning model gives the FlashBot Arm capabilities to perform tasks in any kind of situation, which is a major leap compared to standard robots that have limited mobility.
The AI-assisted large language model on the robot is fed by the data from the advanced sensors like RGB depth cameras, panoramic lenses, a LiDAR unit, and pressure-sensitive skin. Pudu calls it the VSLAM (visual simultaneous localization and mapping) system. The bot creates a real-time 3D map with the input to access its surroundings or avoid obstacles. Other essential hardware includes a microphone, a speaker, and visual hardware. Thus, it can handle natural conversations with the user or take delivery instructions by voice commands. It is also capable of human-like decision making and collaborative tasks, making it ideal for dynamic commercial environments.
FlashBot Arm weighs 33 lb in total and lasts for around eight hours on a single charge and normal working load, before it automatically docks into the charger. It takes around 4 hours to fully charge the onboard batteries. There is no word on the pricing or availability of the robot, but we could soon have some development regarding this by Pudu Robotics.
